Chemo has made Ezra crazy! Its just great to see that it isn’t slowing him down. Sorry the video is sideways…I was holding the camera the wrong way, and I have no idea how to fix that….just tilt your head :) But in the future I will hold it the right way!
Tomorrow we are going in early for Ezra to have a lumbar puncture (aka a spinal tap). Usually when doctors perform LP’s they are only going in to collect a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) sample. With Ezra they not only collect a sample but also inject chemo in the form of Intrathecal Methotrexate. It is given to prevent leukemia cells from entering into the brain and spine. At Ezra’s diagnosis he did not yet have any leukemia cells in his brain or spine…a very good thing.
Ezra has had at least 4-5 of these done already, and he will have many more to come. We go in and they give him a drug called Versed which makes him all silly. Then they wheel him away and he is put under for the procedure because of his age, for adults you just get a local anesthetic.
They come and get me after he is out, and still has not yet woken from the anesthesia. He wakes up pissed off, hungry , and thirsty (not allowed to eat or drink before hand). So I come armed with snacks, and juice. Once they are sure he is awake and well, we are sent on our happy way.
It doesn’t get any easier seeing your child lying there unconscious and helpless….
All in the day of a kid with Cancer.
We have really been enjoying our time at home. Especially Ezra and Rowan. Its interesting to watch how the relationship between the two of them has changed. Children are so much wiser than we give them credit for.
Rowan has taken up caring for Ezra, he will bring him snacks, and juice, and help hold his medicine ball when Ezra walks around. They really love each other.
Ezra has been so busy playing. The stiffness in his legs has gone away and he is getting around great, there is still a little limp, but it is drastically better. Him and his brother spend hours playing , its so great to see. They both needed a detox from all the TV they watched over the last month.
As for the medical aspect to it all, he is still taking a ton of drugs. We are now in the phase of his treatment that they call “Consolidation”. We have to give him antibiotics 4 times a day, 3 of which are on 8 hour intervals. These are the little medicine balls we hook Ezra’s PICC line up to. We will be giving him those until they think his wound has healed up enough.
My husband is also changing the dressing on Ezra’s wound (from his incision) every day, from where they removed the port. That is probably the worst part of Ezra’s day. It is really gross looking, since the infection was inside of him, they want the wound to heal from the inside, out. So they basically left it open. Its about the size of a quarter, which Anthony has to put packing tape in to every day. As soon as it heals shut I think he will get another port put back in.
He is losing more of his hair and his chubbiness daily, he doesn’t seem to care though.
I can’t even put into words how great it is to be out of the hospital, and back to a semi-normal routine and life. Its almost easy to forget about the cancerous elephant standing in the room.
You can read about our 4th of July here.
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